On this date nearly a century ago, Ford celebrated an important milestone: building its 1 millionth car at the River Rouge plant in Detroit.
The American automaker's 1 millionth vehicle rolled off the assembly line on Dec. 10, 1915, according to History.com.
The milestone mostly went under the radar at the time, as Ford's increased productivity had been keeping the company busy since it implemented the moving assembly line in 1913.
"With twenty-five assembly plants...and with a big factory in Detroit assembling so many Ford cars a day," said The Ford Times, which was a monthly publication produced by Ford until 1996. "We passed the million mark without knowing it."
Ford sold more than 15 million Model Ts altogether between 1908 and 1927, a period that saw the car's price drop from $850 (about $20,000 today) to just $300 (or $3,700).
The 10 millionth Ford received a lot more fanfare, driving from New York to San Francisco and from Los Angeles to Chicago in summer 1924, a tour that the company made into a movie called "Fording the Lincoln Highway."
Henry Ford is credited with establishing industrial mass production, paving the way for a middle class and establishing the dealership franchise system.
Modern-day Ford recently hit another milestone, reporting 1 million cars sold in China after a 20 percent sales increase in the first 11 months of this year.
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